Rotary brush construction



R. o. PETEmmN @MVA-ll ROTARY BRUSH CONSTRUCTION Aug. 7, 113% Filed Julyl2. 1950 United States Patent O ROTARY BRUSH CONSTRUCTION Ruben U.Peterson, University Heights, Ollio, assignorto The sborn ManufacturingCompany, Cleveland, Ulno, a corporation ot Ohio Application `lluly 12,1950, Serial No. 173,464 lll Claims. (Cl. 18`2) This invention relatesas indicated to rotary brush construction and, more particularly, to apreassembled rotary brush unit adapted to be mounted upon an arbor ormandrel and readily removed therefrom when it is desired to replace thesame.

Power driven rotary brushes mounted upon shafting are commonly employedfor a wide variety of purposes including the surface conditioning ofmetal sheets and the like and some such brushes, commonly cylindrical inform and known as roller brushes, are quite large and heavy. They may becomprised of a number of annular brush sections assembled in closeside-by-side relationship or a relatively long length of helically woundbrush strip may be utilized. ln the latter case, the Same may be woundupon a tubular core ladapted closely to tit a relatively large diameterarbor or to be supported upon a relatively small diameter arbor by meansof annular adapters. rthe assembly and disassembly of such brushes hasalways constituted something of a problem when it is desired to replacea worn-out brush with a new brush or to substitute a different sizebrush on the arbor. ln my co-pending application Serial No. 732,445,tiled March 5, i947, now Patent No. 2,609,559, I disclose a novel formof rotary brush including retaining means considerably simplifying themounting and replacement of this type of brush while at the same timeproviding a very strong assembly adapted to withstand high speedoperation and the stresses and strains to which the same is subjected inuse.

It is a principal object of this present invention to provide areplaceable pre-assembled brush unit which may be quickly installed `andremoved without diiculty and without the necessity of employing specialtools,

Another object is to provide means whereby helically wound brush stripis permanently secured to a tubular core for mounting as a unit oneither a large or small diameter arbor.

Still another object is to provide such brush unit adapted to be mountedupon and driven by a variety of difierent types of arbors includingsquare, polygonal and round arbors.

A further object is to provide such brush unit which is designed forpassage of a fluid, either gaseous or liquid therethrough for coolingand other purposes.

Other objects of my invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said inventionthen comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexeddrawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of theinvention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the variousways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. l is an end elevational view of another rotary brush unit embodyingthe principles of my invention;

2,757,401 Patented Aug. 7, i956 Ace Fig. 2 is a sectional view takenalong the line 2-2 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is -a fragmentary sectional View taken along the line 3 3 on Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the tubular core of thebrush of Fig. l;

Fi 5 is a transverse sectional View through a circular arbor and suchcore mounted thereon;

Fig. 6 is a view resembling Fig. 5 but showing such core mounted on adiiierent type of arbor; and

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing such core mounted on asubstantially square arbor.

1Referring now more particularly to said annexed drawing and especiallyFigs. 1-3 thereof, the brush construe tion there illustrated comprises acylindrical sheet metal core 23 having a length of helically wound brushstrip 2 seated thereon. Such brush strip may desirably be of the generaltype illustrated and described in my Patent No. 2,303,386 having a sheetmetal channel form base 3 and stranded brush material 4 doubled andretained therein beneath an elongated retaining element such as wire 5.Such wire in turn may be secured in place by means of overlapping teeth6 punched in from the respective sides oi' channel 3. Other types ofbrush strip having brush backs similar to channel 3 are well known inthe art and may likewise be employed in the construction of thisinvention.

l prefer to form such core of two identical stampings, each making upone-half of the cylindrical core. .Each such stamping is of generalsemi-circular crosssection formed with an inwardly protruding rib 24 entending longitudinally thereof midway of its width. A complementarygroove 2:3 is thus formed externally of such rib. The longitudinal edgeportions of Such stamping are offset inwardly and such edge portions oftwo opposed stampings joined as by spot welding to form in wardlyprotruding ribs 26 similar in size and conforma` tion to ribs 24, with`complementary grooves 27 externally thereof similar to grooves 25.

Slots 28 are formed in the ends member thus obtained intermediate suchribs 24 and 26 for a purpose to be explained below. A helically woundlength of brush strip generally indicated at 2 is now tightly seated onthe outer periphery of such core 23 and the outermost turn (or, ifdesired, several turns) is welded to such core, preferably by arcwelding, through such slots 28.

of the tubular core being adapted engagement.

considerable difficulty has been met with due to the tendency of thebrush core to bind thereon, The provision of longitudinally extendingribs 24 and 26 entirely eliminates this problem, such ribs serving asrunners and greatly reducing the area of the contacting surfaces. Aplurality of spaced holes may be provided in core 23 to permit theradial outward ilow of air or other fluid media to the brush elementmounted thereon.

It'will be seen from the foregoing that l have provided an improvedbrush construction whereby a helically wound length rof brush strip maybe mounted on a generally cylindrical core and made integral therewithso that the brush may be handled as a unit even when of very large size.The advantages of this arrangement, particularly over that usuallyemployed where the helically wound brush strip is mounted directly onthe arbor, have been explained above. From a practical operating pointof view, the fact that brushes of this type may be removed and replacedupon their arbors with a minimum of down time has been found to be ofvery great value.

It will, of course, be understood that the term brush as used herein andin the claims is intended to include closely related articles such asrotary buffs, the particular filler material not constituting any partof the present invention. Helically wound brush strip manufactured inaccordance with my prior Patent 2,303,386, for example, is relativelyinexpensive of manufacture, as are also the stampings such as coremembers 23. When rigidly assembled, as by Welding, a complete brush unitis produced at low cost which nevertheless will withstand diicultoperating conditions. Generally at annular end members may be mounted onthe arbor to either side of the brush unit of Figs. 1 and 2 or securedthereto by welding. intermediate turns of the helical brush strip may bewelded to the generally cylindrical core through holes in core 23. Thisis often desirable in the case of relatively long roller brushes.Reference may be had to my copending divisional application Serial No.561,446, filed January 26, 1956, for another form of brush assemblywhich is particularly advantageous where it is desired to mount anannular rotary brush unit of large inner diameter on an arbor which maybe of relatively small diameter.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of suchbe employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

l. A rotary brush unit comprising a cylindrical core and a helicallywound length of brush strip having a metal back seated on the outerperiphery of said core with brush material extending generally radiallytherefrom, said core comprising two opposed identical sheet metalstampings of general half-circular cross-section with inwardly offsetlongitudinal edge portions overlapping and welded together, therebyproviding two diametrically opposite inwardly protruding ribs, inwardlyprotruding longitudinally extending ribs of like dimensions formed ineach of said stampings midway between said first-named ribs, said ribsbeing adapted to engage and seat upon an arbor inserted axially withinsaid core, slots in the ends of said core, weld metal in said slotssecuring such metal back firmly to Said core, and openings through thewall of said core adapted to permit radially outward iiow of iluidentering said core axially into the spaces between said core and sucharbor.

2. A rotary brush unit comprising a cylindrical core and a helicallywound length of brush strip having a metal back seated on the outerperiphery of said core with brush material extending generally radiallytherefrom, said core comprising two opposed identical sheet metal stampings of general half-circular cross-section with inwardly offsetlongitudinal edge portions overlapping and welded together, therebyproviding two diametrically opposite A inwardly protruding ribs,inwardly protruding longitudinally extending ribs of like dimensionsformed in each of said stampings midway between said first-named ribs,said ribs being adapted to engage and seat upon an arbor inserted withinsaid core, the end turns of such helically wound brush strip metal backbeing welded to said core.

3. A rotary brush unit comprising a cylindrical core and an annularbrush element seated on the outer periphery of said core with brushmaterial extending generally radially therefrom, said core comprisingtwo opposed identical sheet metal stampings of general halfcircularcross-section with inwardly offset longitudinal edge portionsoverlapping and welded together, thereby providing two diametricallyopposite inwardly protruding ribs, inwardly protruding longitudinallyextending ribs of like dimensions formed in each of said stampingsmidway between said first-named ribs, said ribs being adapted to engageand seat upon an arbor inserted within said core.

4. A rotary brush unit comprising a cylindrical core and an annularbrush element seated on the outer periphery of said core with brushmaterial extending generally radially therefrom, said core comprising asheet metal cylinder having a plurality of inwardly projecting exposedribs of substantial width formed therein by deformation of the sheetmetal of said cylinder and extending generally parallel to the axisthereof adapted directly to engage and seat upon a power driven shaftinserted co-axially within said core.

5. A rotary brush unit comprising a generally cylindrical core and anannular brush element seated on the outer periphery of said core withbrush material extending generally radially therefrom, said corecomprising a unitary cylinder having a plurality of radially uniformribs projecting inwardly from its inner periphery and extendinggenerally parallel to the axis thereof, said ribs being exposed andcircumferentially spaced to engage and seat uniformly upon a rotaryshaft inserted co-axially within said core.

6. An annular rotary brush comprising a generally cylindrical core withbrush material extending radially outwardly therefrom, said core havingrigid ribs exposed on its inner periphery extending generally parallelto the axis thereof circumferentially spaced to engage a shaft insertedco-axially within said core and iirmly seat thereon, a shaft thus fittedin said core, and means on said shaft engaging at least one said rib todrive said core and brush therewith.

7. A rotary brush unit comprising a tubular metal core, a length ofhelically wound brush strip having a metal back seated on said core withbrush material extending radially therefrom, the end turns of saidhelically wound brush back being locally welded to said core, andcircumferentially spaced rigid internal projections on said coreextending generally parallel to the axis thereof and exposed to engagecircumferentially spaced regions of the peripheral surface of an arborto support said unit centered thereon.

8. A rotary brush unit comprising a cylindrical core and an annularbrush element seated on the outer periphery of said core with brushmaterial extending generally radially therefrom, said core comprising acylinder having a plurality of circumferentially spaced rigid ribsprojecting inwardly from its inner periphery and extending generallyparallel to the axis of said core, and an arbor of non-circularcross-section firmly seating said core with said ribs both drivinglyengaging said arbor and also spacing the body of said core therefrom.

9. A rotary brush unit comprising a cylindrical core and an annularbrush element seated on the outer periphery of said core with brushmaterial extending generally radially therefrom, said core comprisingtwo opposed identical sheet metal stampings of general halfcircularcross-section with inwardly oifset longitudinal edge portionscircumferentially overlapping and joined together, thereby providing twoexposed diametrically opposite inwardly protruding ribs, inwardlyprotruding longitudinally extending ribs of like dimensions formed ineach of said stampngs midway between said rstnamed ribs, said ribs beingexposed to engage and seat upon an arbor inserted within said core.

10. A rotary brush unit comprising a cylindrical core and an annularbrush element seated on the outer periphery of said core with brushmaterial extending generally radially outwardly therefrom, said corecomprising a sheet metal cylinder having a plurality of exposed inwardlyprojecting ribs of substantial width formed therein by deformation ofthe sheet metal of said cylinder extending generally parallel to theaxis thereof and circumferentially spaced to seat said core upon a powerdriven shaft inserted axially within said core, said cylindrical corealso having apertures therethrough for passage of uid from the interiorto the exterior thereof.

11. A rotary brush unit comprising a rigid generally cylindrical core,and an annular brush element seated on the outer periphery of said corewith brush material extending generally radially outwardly therefrorn,said core comprising a sheet metal cylinder having a plurality ofinwardly projecting ribs of substantial width formed therein bydeformation of the sheet metal of said cylinder and exposed in thecentral opening of the latter for driven engagement with a shaft ofnon-circular cross-section inserted co-axially therein.

